


I Won't Apologize For Loving You

by beautifulmadness13



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Josie is kind of a bitch sorry, Penelope deserves to be loved, Protective Hope, Secret Relationship, So much angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:55:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26286823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beautifulmadness13/pseuds/beautifulmadness13
Summary: “Stop.”To say Hope was annoyed would be an understatement. She'd had to listen to Josie bad mouth the girl behind her for as long as they had been friends and once upon a time it hadn't really bothered her. Hell, she even used to think that the witch deserved it. But now after getting to know Penelope, after... falling for Penelope, Hope couldn't stand by and listen to her friend's insults anymore.“You don't get to talk to her like that.”ORPenelope and Hope have been secretly dating for a while and when Josie finds out she doesn't take it too well.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson & Josie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson/Penelope Park, Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman (past)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 198





	I Won't Apologize For Loving You

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!!!  
> So I've had this sitting in my drafts for about a year now and I really like it but I just never got around to posting it so I figured what better day to share it than on my BIRTHDAY! WHOOP  
> Anyway this is just a super angsty henelope/posie oneshot that was originally supposed to be part of a much longer fic that I never wrote but I think it works well on its own too.
> 
> Enjoy! (also read the endnotes :))

“Y-you two?”

The door to Hope's dorm had swung open so quickly that neither girl inside had any time to even try and untangle themselves from the compromising position they were currently in.

Josie stared at the sight in front of her, unable to really register it as her emotions changed faster than she could keep up. This was the last thing she had expected to see when she'd come looking for Hope after her father had asked her to.

For a moment all three girls stared at each other, frozen and uncertain of how to proceed. Finally the body on top of Hope, Penelope Park's body, scrambled off of her then began rifling through the sheets on the bed, most likely in search of a shirt to cover her bare chest. The movement shook Hope out of her daze and her vocal cords regained the ability to form words.

“Josie I-”

Well almost regained the ability.

Hope was more than a little shocked at the brunette's sudden appearance and she cursed her usually well-attuned wolf senses for not picking up her approach sooner. A pair of shorts hit her in the face and she realized then that she wasn't wearing pants. Quickly she slid them over her legs and stood from the bed not taking any further steps to get closer to the siphoner who's hand was currently gripping the door handle so tightly Hope momentarily worried that she might break it off.

Once Penelope was dressed she took a seat back on Hope's bed using the girl in front of her as a partial shield. The last time Josie had walked in on her making out with one of her friends she'd received an unwanted haircut and nearly gotten third-degree burns. Penelope was not looking for a repeat of that experience.

Josie's eyes didn't stray from either girl, quickly flicking back and forth between the two of them before settling on who she deemed to be the lesser of two evils. She took a shaky breath, blinked and tried not to focus her anger on any one spot for too long. She'd set Hope's room on fire once before, she didn't need to do it again.

“When? How?”

Single syllable words were all she could manage but both Penelope and Hope could understand the questions. The ravenette knew she wasn't the one currently on trial so she kept her mouth shut while Hope tried to think of the easiest way for all of them to get out of this conversation unscathed.

“3 months ago, a few weeks after she came back from Belgium.”

The unspoken words _“and a few weeks after you rejected her, again”_ rang out clearly and Penelope couldn't help but wince at the painful memory still a little too fresh in her mind.

_She'd been gone for over two years, everyone believing that she was living her best life at some fancy European witch boarding school and that had been the truth during the first semester, until Caroline had shown up. Her ex-headmistress had been scouring the globe for anything that might help her figure out a way to stop the fate of the twin's impending 22nd birthday and she'd ended up at Penelope's new school after finding out that one of the professors there might have had some information._

_Word travels quickly in such a small place and once Penelope had found out what the vampire was doing she'd practically demanded to be allowed to help. The logistics of it had made things tricky at first but eventually they were able to work it out for the young witch to tag along on the quest and even get some of the experience to count towards extra credit._

_Caroline had already been unknowingly close to the answer by that point because it only took another year for them to find the thing that had seemed too impossible to exist. They had been able to return to Salvatore school triumphant with the cure in hand. Both twins would get to live and that day had been simultaneously the best and one of the worst of Penelope's short life._

Josie's glare found its way to the girl still seated with her head bowed. Penelope didn't need to look up to feel the heat of brown eyes on her. Of course Josie would find a way to blame her for this too, it was the easiest solution, to use her ex as a punching bag, Penelope had grown used to that.

“So what?”

The brunette's words hissed out in the witch's direction and she could hear the venom dripping from them as Josie spoke.

“I refuse to sink back down to your level and you immediately run off to seduce my best friend?”

Penelope shifted uncomfortably in her seat still refusing to make eye contact. It never failed to amaze her just how easily her presence alone triggered a hidden rage in Josie. When they had been together the siphoner had always seemed so soft, sweet and comforting but that had been years ago and now the only emotion Josie held for her was pure distilled hatred. Maybe she deserved that, Penelope wasn't sure but that didn't stop her from feeling the sting every time her ex decided to use her as a target to practice her newly acquired ability to speak her mind.

“God my sister was right, you really are a manipulative bitc-”

“Stop.”

To say Hope was annoyed would be an understatement. She'd had to listen to Josie bad mouth the girl behind her for as long as they had been friends and once upon a time it hadn't really bothered her. Hell, she even used to think that the witch deserved it. But now after getting to know Penelope, after... falling for Penelope, Hope couldn't stand by and listen to her friend's insults anymore.

“You don't get to talk to her like that.”

Hope's voice came out steely and unwavering, the surprise on Josie's face made it clear that she hadn't expected the redhead to actually try and defend her ex.

Hope could hear when Penelope let out a small breath and seemed to relax a bit. Her desire to protect the green-eyed teen from anything that might upset her was overwhelming and Hope found herself taking a small step to the side so that her body would block Penelope even more from Josie's view.

“Are you serious? Hope, do you not remember what she did before she left? Kissing MG, threatening Lizzie, spying on everyone, breaking my heart? Did you forget all of the pain she caused with everything she put me through?”

If Penelope could curl up into a ball and disappear right then she would have. Guilt coursed through her veins as Josie brought up each terrible thing she had done and it made her feel like less of a person somehow. To her, hurting Josie had always been one of the worst crimes she could have ever committed and a part of Penelope still felt like she should be punished for ever causing a single one of the brunette's tears to spill.

Hope didn't share that sentiment though and it took everything in her not to walk across the room and shake her best friend to make her realize that she hadn't been the only one affected by those events.

“Josie of course I remember, I was there and I experienced it through you. But I also remember her apologizing, I remember her trying to atone for all of that shit. I remember her sacrificing over a year of her life to find something to save yours and I remember you acting like she didn't even exist afterwards.”

_Because that's exactly what had happened on the best and worst day of Penelope's life. When she and Caroline had returned to Mystic Falls with the cure there had been an energy engulfing the entire school so happy it was almost surreal. Josie and Lizzie had positively beamed when they had seen their mother knowing that she now held the answer to all of their problems and the whole event had been cause for celebration. That was until Penelope had made herself known. She hadn't been sure what would happen when Josie found out that she was at least partially responsible for finding the cure but the darkness that had seemed to flow out of the brunette in waves when Penelope appeared was definitely unexpected. It was like every negative emotion that Josie had felt over the past few years had reached a boiling point and had come pouring out directed towards the witch. No one had been prepared for it and when Penelope had found herself flying across the room and into a wall for the second time in her life she knew that Josie was never going to forgive her for anything that she had put her through._

_She'd always believed that her actions were justified by thinking that everything she had done was for Josie's benefit, that she couldn't possibly be the demon everyone thought she was because she truly loved the other girl. But looking into the brunette's eyes and seeing only anger and hate had been enough to send Penelope reeling, so it was with a shattered heart and a lack of purpose that she had made her way up to the roof of the school. With a half-empty bottle of cheap alcohol and her legs dangling off of a ledge Penelope had felt utterly broken and lost, and that's how Hope had found her. The tribrid had at first been confused by the sight before taking pity on her and then finally reaching the somewhat unexpected decision to help put Penelope's pieces back together._

“It's fine if you're not ready to forgive Jo, no one expects you to. But maybe before you come storming in here with your holier than thou attitude you should remember that we were all stupid kids who did stupid things. Teenagers who made mistakes. Nobody is perfect Josie, least of all us, so maybe stop attacking Penelope for just existing and go deal with your own self-made drama.”

Josie's eyes darkened and feeling her jealousy beginning to rise she tried to take a calming breath, counting backwards from five.

“So that's it then. You're choosing her and I lose my best friend?”

Hope struggled not to roll her eyes at the overly-dramatic tone of the situation. It all just seemed so ridiculous to her. There was no reason for anyone to have to win or lose, if only they could just be a little more mature about these things. But maybe that was asking for too much at their age.

“You haven't lost anything Jo, I still love you. And look, we don't have a lot of time left before graduation. Then we'll have to move out of here and on with our lives. I would really like to stay friends with you but if that means giving up Penelope then I'm sorry but that's just not a sacrifice I'm willing to make.”

Penelope's heart swelled listening to Hope defend her, it had been so long since someone had actually cared enough to put _her_ first, she'd almost forgotten what it was like.

“She makes me happy, like actually happy and I haven't felt that since, since before my parents....”

A small smile pulled at Hope's lips when she thought about how she had started out just trying to mend Penelope's heart and along the way the other girl had managed to return the favor. She'd been just as lost as the witch when she'd stumbled upon her that night on the roof they had been a saving grace for each other.

Hope felt a warm pressure in the middle of her back and she quickly moved her hand behind her so that she could intertwine her fingers with Penelope's. She squeezed lightly and felt it when Penelope squeezed back. It was calming.

“Anyway it doesn't matter, we're together now and I'm sorry if that upsets you but I'm not changing it and if you truly care about me as your friend then you won’t expect me to.”

Silence fell over the room once again and Hope and Josie found themselves participating in an intense staring contest. It was a battle of wills and neither girl wanted to break.

Hope's resolve was stronger though, she had something she was willing to fight for sitting right behind her and she was not about to let Josie think that there was any way she would ever give that up.

Finally Josie dropped her head in defeat. Clenching her teeth, she let out a sigh before turning back to the hall she'd entered the dorm from. Without even casting another glance over her shoulder she took a step through the threshold before remembering why she had been looking for Hope in the first place.

“My dad wants to see you.”

Her voice was quiet, distant, final in a way. Then as quickly as she had appeared Josie had made her exit closing the door tightly behind her.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! I really love writing angst and henelope so this worked out well for me.  
> So I did actually write a second part to this story, it takes place 10 years after this scene and it's very soft and fluffy henelope as adults <3 If that's something you would like to read then let me know and I'll be sure to post it soon!
> 
> don't forget to comment/kudos :)  
> twitter: @posiewaves


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